Access to land in Brazil: property is the only option?

Abstract

From the 1980s, the urban policy paradigm in several cities of the world underwent a major reformulation. In the Brazilian case, the democratization process, with the promulgation of the new Constitution in 1988, followed by the approval of the City Statute in 2001, the creation of the Ministry of Cities in 2003 and the launch of the Minha Casa Minha Vida Program, In 2009, generated a positive outlook for a more democratic urban planning, with effective inclusion of the poorest, using the new urbanistic instruments which should be capable of transforming into reality important concepts defined in the Statute such as the right to the city, the right to proper housing, social function of property and full land tenure. After more than 15 years of the approval of the Statute of the City the reality of the production of the space in the Brazilian cities practically did not change. The national academic literature has already developed a critical analysis about the use of these instruments, identifying their weaknesses and improper uses. The purpose of this research is to identify and analyze possible alternatives to housing policies, especially regarding to the model of private property present in practically all public housing programs. (AU)